For the 17th year, Franschhoek will put on its French dress, and Franschhoekers will dust off their berets, celebrating the 14 July storming of La Bastille. “Again in 2010, Franschhoek’s Bastille Festival, which began as a village fete, will be a celebration of freedom for all!” says the Festival brochure. The Bastille Festival takes place this weekend.
On Saturday and Sunday the Bastille Festival activities get off to a rolling start at 8h00 with a Boules Tournament on the Dutch Reformed Church grounds on the main road. From 10h00 onwards there is ”a showcase of artisanal food and fare” in the Town Hall and one can sit down at a Parisian cafe. Locally made olives and oils, fruit preserves, honey products, tasty take-home treats, Cape cuisine, and fresh vegetables will be sold.
The highlight for regular Bastille Festival supporters is the marquee in the centre of town, that sees almost every Franschhoek winery (Akkerdal, Allee Bleue, Anthonij Rupert, Bellingham, Boekenhoutskloof, Boschendal, Dieu Donne, Glenwood, Graham Beck, Grande Provence, La Bri, La Motte, Lynx, Mont Rochelle, Rickety Bridge, Rupert & Rothschild, Solms-Delta, Topiary and Vrede & Lust) paired with almost every restaurant in town (Allee Bleue, Dieu Donne, French Connection, The Grillroom, The Restaurant at Grande Provence, Haute Cabriere, iCi, La Petite Ferme, Monneaux, Plaisir de Merle, Reuben’s, and Fyndraai). The food and winetasting marquee is open from 12h00 - 17h00 on Saturday and Sunday, and entrance costs R 100, which entitles one to five tasting coupons. Tickets can be booked at www.webtickets.co.za
The Porcupine Ridge Barrel Rolling competition starts at 14h00 on each of the two days, and a Waiters’ Race will be contested at the Food & Wine Marquee at 13h00 on Saturday.
Whale Cottage Franschhoek has a Bastille Festival weekend accommodation package - write to winelands@whalecottage.com.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
Tags: accommodation, Akkerdal, Allee Bleue, Anthonij Rupert, artisanal food and fare, Bastille Festival, Bellingham, berets, Boekenhoutskloof, Boschendal, Boules Tournament, Cape cuisine, Chris von Ulmenstein, Dieu Donne, Dutch Reformed Church, Food&Wine Marquee, Franschhoek, Franschhoekers, French Connection, fresh vegetables, fruit preserves, Fyndraai, Glenwood, Graham Beck, Grande Provence, Haute cabriere, honey products, ici, La Bastille, La Bri, La Motte, La Petite Ferme, Lyn, Monneaux, Mont Rochelle, Olive oils, olives, Parisian cafe, Plaisir de Merle, Porcupine Ridge Barrel Rolling competition, restaurant, Reubens, Rickety Bridge, Rupert & Rothschild, Solms Delta, take-home treats, The Grillroom, The Restaurant at Grande Provence, Topiary, Town Hall, village fete, Vrede & Lust, Waiters' Race, Webtickets, Whale Cottage Franschhoek, Whale Cottage Portfolio
The Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurant list can make, or break, restaurants, and so the tension in the ballroom of the Westin Grand Hotel in Cape Town was high when the top restaurant awards were announced last night.
Eat Out editor Abigail Donnelly indicated that the choice for this year’s Top 10 was very tough, and clarified that a chef owning more than one restaurant (e.g. Reuben Riffel) could be eligible for an award, as could a chef who will spend more time away from his namesake restaurant (George Jardine), at his new Country Restaurant at Jordan winery in Stellenbosch. In recent years a Top 20 list is announced a few months prior to the November highlight, and this year the new players on this list were The Round House in Camps Bay (who bravely stated at their inception that they want to be the best restaurant in Africa, and who are very Big Brother as far as observing their patrons is concerned), the Green House in the Cellars Hohenhort hotel, and Carne.
The scoring for the restaurants was 70 % for the food, 20 % for the service and 10 % for the ambiance. Restaurants had to have operated for a minimum of a year to be considered, the owner and the chef had to show a passion for their business, they had to show a dedication to uplift the industry, they had to show that quality sourcing of their supplies is important, and consistency and excellence had to be their foundation.
The winners of the 2010 Prudential Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Awards are as follows, in order of rank:
1. La Colombe in Constantia
2. Restaurant Mosaic in Pretoria
3. Rust en Vrede Restaurant in Stellenbosch
4. Terroir in Stellenbosch
5. The Roundhouse in Camps Bay
6. The Restaurant at Grande Provence in Franschhoek
7. The Green House at the Cellars in Constantia
8. Roots in Johannesburg
9. 9th Avenue Bistro in Durban
10. Overture in Stellenbosch and the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français in Franschhoek.
The tension, excitement and shock was felt by all when the winners were announced. The first surprise of the evening was that Abigail Donnelly, the editor of Eat Out magazine, had created two new Award categories, in which only she had a say in the winners. The Best Country Kitchen Award went to a perennial favourite - Marianna’s in Stanford - while, very surprisingly, the other new category was Best Bistro, which was won by Bizerca Bistro in Cape Town, a top 20 Award finalist. This made it clear that Bizerca would not make the Top 10 Eat Out Awards list for 2010. Many heads were shaking, and it sounded as if Bizerca had won a consolation prize.
The next shock was that the 10th place winner was a jointly placed Overture and the Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, once again sounding as if the judges could not decide which of the two restaurants to drop into 11th position, making both these restaurants joint 10th winners, and thus creating an Eat Out Top 11 Restaurants Awards this year! The list also created a stir in that Jardine fell out of the top list completely (from number 2 last year), as did Hartford House. La Colombe, 9th Avenue Bistro, Mosaic, Terroir, The Tasting Room, Roots and Overture were all on the Top 10 restaurant list last year. Restaurants that were on the Top 20 list, but which did not make the Top 10 list, are Reubens, Carne, Aubergine, Bread and Wine, The Food Barn, Hartford House, Zachary’s, Bizerca Bistro and Jardine.
Chantel Dartnall of Mosaic won the Chef of the Year award. Rust en Vrede won the Service Excellence award.
Cape Town and the Winelands retain their reputation as the gourmet centre of South Africa, three awards going to Cape Town and Stellenbosch restaurants each, and two to Franschhoek restaurants.
The 5-star Westin Grand Hotel disappointed hugely as the venue hosting an awards evening recognising the best of gourmet cooking and service in South Africa. Its standards have dropped significantly compared to the slick function a year ago. Luke warm waters and white wines were served, the service staff were initially unable to cope, and the airconditioning did not operate at an acceptable level.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio : www.whalecottage.com
Tags: 9th Avenue, Abigail Donnelly, Aubergine, Best Bistro, Best Country Kitchen, Bizerca Bistro, Bread and Wine, Cape Town, Carne, Cellars-Hohenhort Hotel, Chantel Dartnall, Chef of the Year, Chris von Ulmenstein, Country Restaurant at Jordan winery, Franschhoek, George Jardine, Gourmet, Hartford House, La Colombe, Mariana's, Overture, Prudential Eat Out Top 10 restaurant awards, Restaurant Mosiac, restaurants, Reuben Riffel, Reubens, Roots, Rust en Vrede, Service Excellence Award, Stellenbosch, terroir, The Food Barn, the Green House, The Restaurant at Grande Provence, The Roundhouse, The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais, Westin Grand Hotel, Whale Cottage Portfolio, Winelands, Zachary's
Sixteen of the 20 finalists on the Prudential Eat Out Restaurant Awards list, from which the Top 10 list will be selected at the Awards function on 22 November, are from Cape Town and the Western Cape, proving that the Cape is the Gourmet Centre of the country.
Eight finalists are from Cape Town alone, four are from Franschhoek and three are from Stellenbosch.
The three Stellenbosch finalists all made the Top 10 list last year - Terroir, Overture and Rust & Vrede. Franschhoek’s finalists are Reubens (Top Chef and Top Restaurant winner five years ago), The Restaurant at Grande Provence, Bread & Wine, and The Tasting Room at Le Quartier Francais (the only current Top 10 restaurant in Franschhoek). All the Franschhoek finalists have been previous Top 10 winners.
New entrants to the Top 20 list, having been open for more than a year, are Carne, The Greenhouse at The Cellars Hohenhort, and The Roundhouse, all based in Cape Town. All other finalists were finalists last year as well.
Finalists of last year that did not make the Top 20 list this year are The Showroom (closed down earlier this year and now houses Portofino), Myoga, The Saxon (chef Rudi Liebenberg has moved to The Mount Nelson Hotel) and Linger Longer.
The full list of Top 20 finalists is as follows:
1. 9th Avenue Bistro, Durban
2. Aubergine, Cape Town
3. Bizerca Bistro, Cape Town
4. Bread and Wine, Franschhoek
5. Carne SA, Cape Town
6. The Foodbarn, Cape Town
7. The Greenhouse at The Cellars-Hohenort, Cape Town
8. Hartford House, Mooi River, KZN
9. Jardine, Cape Town
10. La Colombe, Cape Town
11. Mosaic Restaurant, Pretoria
12. Overture, Stellenbosch
13. The Restaurant at Grande Provence, Franschhoek
14. Reuben’s Restaurant & Bar, Franschhoek
15. Roots, Johannesburg
16. The Roundhouse, Cape Town
17. Rust en Vrede, Stellenbosch
18. Tasting Room at Le Quartier Français, Franschhoek
19. Terroir, Stellenbosch
20. Zachary’s, Knysna
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio www.whalecottage.com
Tags: 9th Avenue Bistro, Aubergine, Bizerca Bistro, Bread & Wine, Cape Town, Carne, Chris von Ulmenstein, Franschhoek, Gourmet Centre, Hartford House, Jardine, La Colombe, Le Quartier Francais, Linger Longer, Mosaic Restaurant, Mount Nelson, Myoga, Overture, Portofino, Prudential Eat Out Top 10, restaurants, Reubens, Roots, Rudi Liebenberg, Rust & Vrede, Stellenbosch, terroir, The Foodbarn, The Greenhouse at The Cellars Hohenhort, The Restaurant at Grande Provence, The Roundhouse, The Saxon, The Showroom, The Tasting Room, Whale Cottage Portfolio, Zachary's
